


Tender age

by dewborb



Series: Yuri!!! Underwater [1]
Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Mermaid, Anxiety, Children, Compulsory Figures, OCs - Freeform, Young Katsuki Yuuri, Yuri!!! Underwater, fish kiddos competing for the first time here they go, mermaid au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-28
Updated: 2018-04-28
Packaged: 2019-04-28 19:50:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,896
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14456508
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dewborb/pseuds/dewborb
Summary: At the tender age of 5, most young mers were free from the everyday stress. They’d go to school to learn how to hunt a small fish, explore the kelp forest in their neighborhood under their parents’ supervision, or play hide-and-seek among the hundreads of anemone located in the local coral reef. They were carefree, hungry for discoveries and knowledge, ready to face a world full of things that, to them, were unseen. Most young mers’ lives were like that. Most.Yuuri wasn’t one of those.





	Tender age

**Author's Note:**

> Aaaand here it is, one of the many one-shots I've written for this AU for the sake of worldbuilding!
> 
> Many people on Tumblr have been asking for me to write a full fanfic about this AU, but right now I barely have time, motivation or energy to do something even remotely close to that. Plus, I'm not exactly that confident in my writing right now--- Also, keep in mind that I do not have a beta reader, so I apologize for any mistakes! I tried to proofread this a couple of times, but I cant guarantee that I corrected all typos and errors.
> 
> So, I hope you all enjoy this. This was one of the very first one-shorts I've written for this AU!

At the tender age of 5, most young mers were free from the everyday stress. They’d go to school to learn how to hunt a small fish, explore the kelp forest in their neighborhood under their parents’ supervision, or play hide-and-seek among the hundreads of anemone located in the local coral reef. They were carefree, hungry for discoveries and knowledge, ready to face a world full of things that, to them, were unseen. Most young mers’ lives were like that. Most.

Yuuri wasn’t one of those.

At least, not fully. Yuuri did play around the anemone field near his parents’ thermal waters hotel with Yuuko and Takeshi, or go to school and try to hunt a feisty tilapia with a wood spear under Ms. Akane’s instructions, or explore the small kelp forest located near the local market center with his sister, but aside from school, those activities were for his free time. That, if he had any.

Yuuri was a water dancer- a role that took most of his time. The chamber A-2 of Hydro Castle was his second home, and coach Kizuna, along with his precision teacher Minako, were almost another set of family members. And Yuuri didn’t mind, this was his life and he loved every bit of it.

But, at the tender age of 5, Yuuri had his first competition, and that’s when everything started.

Coach Kizuna did tell him and his dance mates that they’d be going to a competition soon, and at that moment, Yuuri felt thrilled and excited, but that’s because he didn’t really knew what he was expecting. He thought that the chill in his stomach that grew everyday was just him getting a bit nervous, just like it when Ms. Akane sets him to hunt a bigger fish at school. But when the day came, he felt like he had just entered a water current straight from the poles. His entire body felt cold, he was trembling. Not even the company of Yuuko, two years his senior and his closest friend, made the crippling cold go away. And, as time went on, Yuuri only felt more and more terrified or what was coming.

Officially, he was trained to be a freesyle solo water dancer. One of those that did elaborate choreographies and a series of “difficult spins and twists”, as his mother dubbed it. However, recently coach Kizuna set him and his fellow dance mates do practice and compete in the Compulsory Division instead, which probably was one of the reasons Yuuri felt so terrified. Now that he thought about it...indeed, it was one of the reasons his heart rate wouldn’t go down.

In compulsory, you need focus. Complete concentration. Control over your body and emotions.

All three things Yuuri was lacking as he sat at the warmup chamber, waiting for his name to be called. Compusory was simple, but terrifying. Yuuri loathed it. But coach Kizuna said that even if he never competed in it again, it would serve as na important backbone for him in the future.

He should be practicing like the others around him. He should be warming up his muscles with Yuuko. He should be working on getting his emotions back in place, but he couldn’t. His body andmind wouldn’t listen. He felt doomed.

“And now, we announce the Compulsory Juvenile Group D.”

Group D was the one he was insterted in.

“Aomori Shizuka, Katsuki Yuuri, Kiyonari Fumi, Matsumura Keizo and Tezuka Wataru, main chamber!” The supervisor by the entrance called.

 _No, no, no, no, no, no, no._ Repeated constantly in Yuuri’s mind, He wasn’t ready, he wasn’t ready-

“Come on, Yuuri. It’s your turn now.” He felt coach Kizuna’s hand leading him to the entrance, his mind too jumbled to remember when he was gotten up from the spot he had been sitting at for the past 30 minutes or so. As his terrified, widened eyes met hers, he hand lightly ruffled his hair before patting it back into place. “Calm down, take deep breaths. Do it like you do in practice, think of the audience as your dance mates’ parents simply watching and cheering. You can do it.”

Trying to focus on her words, Yuuri nodded. He gulped down, and took a deep breath. The curtain dividing the warmup area from the competition chamber was getting closer by the second. His tiny fingers grasped his forearms, smoothing his fins, trying to distract himself from the audience’s noise that echoed through the hall.

Him and coach Kizuna stood second in the line.

A hand lifted the curtain, and his senses were assaulted by a rush of clapping and cheering, much louder than what he was used to. But before he could start panicking again, coach Kizuna stilled his face with her hands and whispered into his ear. “Do your best, Yuuri.”

The competition chamber was huge, set up with five Compulsory circuits. Every circuit had a total of two judges, ten suspended alge rings and, on the seafloor, a line that followed the rings’ route. The circuit was shaped like an “8”.

Coach Kizuna pointed to the circuit he would be in. Giving her one last glance, Yuuri nodded and swam towards the source of his anxiety. He constantly reviewed whe he was supposed to do in his mind- swim carefully thought the circuit, don’t touch the rings, keep your shadow alligned with the line on the seafloor. It was easy to say, but not so easy to do.

The young merman stopped right in front of the judges. Their expressions were serious, and their mere presence sent another chill down Yuuri’s spine. He bowed down in respect, and made his way to the center of the circuit, like all other competitiors around him. He stood still, almost frozen in place, waiting for the order to start. When the noise finally faded, it was sudden, almost as if someone pressed the mute button on his surroundings. The only sound Yuuri could hear was his thundering heart beat. For a moment that felt like forever, Yuuri closed his eyes and took a deep breath. _Do it like in practice. Don’t panic. Don’t look at the judges. Forget about everything else._ The mantra echoed over and over inside his head, urging him to calm down.

The sound of a blaring whistle ripped through the silence. It began.

In a matter of seconds, everything arround him disappeared- or so it seemed. It was if the other judges, or competitors, or even the other coaches and audience never existed. Everything Yuuri was able to pinpoint was his own circuit, the two judges nearby him and coach Kizuna, sitting close to the entrance. Yuuri was surrounded by white save for these few elements. However, his heartbeat, cold and trembling never stopped. With one last chill down his spine that made him rufle his flippers, Yuuri got into pisition and with a calculated push, began making his way through the rings.

The circuit was supposed to be completed in 2 minutes, but to Yuuri, it felt like an eternity,. The ten rings he was so used to seeing seemed to pass by slower and slower, as if there were many more than just ten of them. His eyes were glued to the line below him, his arms extended in front of his body, immovable save for the light trembling that never seemed to cease. It felt like his heart was right at his throat, ready to jump out- the only thing holding it down were the cold tentacles that were also wrapped around his entire torso. His breathing was calculated and shallow, so shallow that he wasn’t sure if the distant, dull pain in his head was from the anxiety or from lack of oxygen.

During those eternal 2 minutes, only one sentence replayed in his mind, over and over again.

_Do it like you do in practice._

_Do it like you do in practice._

_Do it like you do in practice._

Was it like he did in practice? Yuuri wasn’t sure. He couldn’t hear anything. All he saw was his own shadow and a pitch black line through it. The thin, white sand made it seem like there was nothing else around him, even the rings that occasionally passed by seemed like some sort of quick, blurred illusion. Was practice always like this? Did it always feel like he had entered a void with nothing but a circuit and himself? Even the judges and coach Kizuna seemed to fade away now. Everything felt so intense yet so calm, so calm and quiet that made him feel nothing but utter fear. But fear of what? Of failing? He couldn’t see the judges anymore. Or anything. Just his shadow and a line.

A whistle pulled him from the void, and Yuuri suddently remembered where he was, what he was doing, and what had just happened.

He stood once again at the center of the circuit, but it was over now. The judges, too focused on the boards in their hands, went back into position, leaving a disoriented Yuuri by himself. What did he have to do now- thank the judges? No problem, with a swift bow, he did it. But what now? Go to coach Kizuna? Where was coach Kizuna- oh, by the entrance. There, there.

Indeed, he had reached coach Kizuna and was received with a hug and words he didn’t understand. Suddently, everything came down at once. His body felt stiff, he was taking in deep gulps of air, his head was pounding in pain, and on top of all, he felt so tired that he might as well lie down right there and sleep. Too tired to talk, too tired to listen to what coach Kizuna or his dance mates were saying, too tired to do anything. He wanted to go home, he wanted his parents.

Yuuri hadn’t resgistered where he was taken to after his turn ended. The young mer was sitting at a rock bench surrounded by his dance mates. His coach was...somewhere. He could see the shine of her scales at the corner of the room. At his right side sat Yuuko and at his left...was that Haru? Probably Haru.

“I’m sure you did great, Yuuri!” Was probably what Yuuko told him, but Yuuri didn’t really process it. He just nodded and laid his head on Yuuko’s shoulder, sighing and closing his eyes. He was too tired.

 

\----

 

The next moment Yuuri felt alert, he was at the competition hall once again, but this time, waiting for the results.

He ended up in third.

The bronze medal around his neck felt heavy, but in a good way. This time, his heart was beating fast not from fear or anxiety, but from happiness. Third place! He was proud of himself! As soon as Yuuri swam down from the podium, he was surprised with a bone-crushing hug from a mass of mers- although he could identify coach Kizuna and Yuuko from it. He was smiling, laughing, as others congratulated him. At home, his family made a huge dinner tocommemorate. Everything was so bright and cheery, it almost felt like it was his brithday.

Everything felt rushed, but it didn't matter. It was the happiest he had ever felt in his life.

 

At the tender age of 5, Yuuri won his very first medal.

**Author's Note:**

> Fish boi did good on his first time
> 
> Thank you all for reading! If you have any questions, please either comment in here or send me a message on my Tumblr, @dewa-chan! I'll happily reply =w=
> 
> Should I continue to post these one-shots? Tell me in the comments! ;v;/


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